Couplers are used to couple hydraulic lines to each other. These couplers typically include check valves to prevent hydraulic fluid from leaking out or contaminants from entering into the hydraulic circuits. When the couplers are disconnected, these check valves seal the ends of the couplers thus preventing contaminants from entering into the hydraulic circuit, and hydraulic fluid from leaking out.
When the circuits are engaged, the sealing elements are pushed to the side and hydraulic fluid is permitted to flow from the hydraulic conduit connected to one coupler, through that coupler, into the second coupler, and into the hydraulic circuit on the other side.
The external surfaces of these hydraulic couplers are often contaminated with water, dirt, or other things that must be kept out of the hydraulic circuit. When the couplers are pushed into engagement, there is a risk that contaminants on the outer surfaces of the hydraulic couplers will enter into the hydraulic circuits and cause damage.
One way of preventing this problem is to manually wipe off all of the external surfaces of the couplers that will interengage with each other and across or through which hydraulic fluid will flow when the mating couplers are engaged. This requires a certain attention to detail. It also requires clean rags, solvents, or other agents to ensure that the mating couplers are cleaned before they are engaged.
Hydraulic couplers such as these are often used on agricultural implements and vehicles such as combine harvesters, harvesting heads, and the like. The environment in which these mating couplings are engaged and disengaged is quite often dirty: a barn, agricultural field, or on a dirt road where cleaning materials are not readily at hand.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved arrangement for cleaning the mating surfaces of hydraulic couplers before they are interengaged.
It is an object of this invention to provide an arrangement.